Israel Strikes Lebanon Near Syrian Border

Warplanes target an arms smuggling route near a Hezbollah stronghold

Israeli soldiers take position on the Israeli-Lebanese border on December 16, 2013. (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli warplanes struck an unidentified target in eastern Lebanon, near the country’s Syrian border, Reuters reports. The area is a known arms smuggling route between the two countries.

It was not immediately known what the target was or the exact location of the air strike, which was in a mountainous area near the border.

The Israeli army declined to comment but an Israeli security source confirmed that there had been “unusually intense air force activity in the north”, referring to Lebanon.

According to the Times of Israel, the air raid targeted a Hezbollah stronghold in the Bekaa Valley. Janta, one of the towns struck, sits along the notorious smuggling route and is reportedly the site of an extensive Hezbollah training base.

As Amos Harel pointed out in Tablet this past summer, Israel had struck Syrian convoys three times since the start of the year, targeting stockpiles of modern weapons systems before they were transferred to Hezbollah. Still, this latest development could signal a serious escalation of tensions between Israel and Lebanon. We’ll update you as we hear more.